Launch of NZ’s Tech Story and brand platform “We See Tomorrow First”

February 22^nd, 2022  New Zealand’s technology story, aiming to create a compelling, consistent way of promoting our tech capabilities to the world, launches at a ‘Go Live” event today.  

The tech story, “We See Tomorrow First”, is a marketing and sales initiative, created in collaboration with industry and government, with a dual mandate: Support the fast-growing digital technology sector and help take those innovations to the global market, and at the same time attract international investment and tech talent to New Zealand.  

“New Zealand has a unique perspective on how we create technology and lead tech businesses. It’s a perspective, building on Māori values of kaitiakitanga or guardianship, that now more than ever, the world needs to help create technology to build a better tomorrow,” says NZ Tech’s Chief Strategy Officer, Julie Gill. 

“Our vision is that the Tech Story will have a lasting, positive impact for our tech businesses and New Zealand. The strength of a unified storytelling platform means businesses will benefit from greater awareness in global markets. This will help business growth by attracting investment, talent and exports,” she says. 

The technology story is supported by a digital toolkit of assets available at www.seetomorrowfirst.nz and NZ Story, that New Zealand tech companies can use in their own marketing campaigns to attract talent, investment and interest. 

In 2021 New Zealand’s top 200 tech exporters earned $13.9 billion and our total global digital exports grew by 23 percent. Within the next decade we expect the sector will be New Zealand’s leading exporter. The tech story initiative is a concerted effort to further accelerate this growth by growing the awareness and preference of Aotearoa’s tech sector internationally.  

We See Tomorrow First has already received the seal of approval from industry names like Rocket Labs, Xero and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, and NZ Tech expects a similarly positive response from its 1,600 strong membership.

“This is exactly the kind of platform our members and industry have been calling for. The tech story and brand We See Tomorrow First will galvanise New Zealand tech companies under one umbrella brand and make it easier to attract the talent and investment they need to continue growing. It will also support them to showcase their digital capability to a global audience,” says Ms Gill.

NZ Tech member and founder of Soul Machines, Greg Cross, says sharing New Zealand’s tech story as a platform for growth is another instrumental step forward in our journey to becoming a knowledge economy.

“New Zealand’s tech sector is growing faster than ever, and our values and cultural identity bring a unique perspective to how we create technology and lead tech businesses. We have a track record of coming up with ground-breaking ideas in this country that will build a better tomorrow, but we are not well known for it. We’re fully behind this initiative to create a New Zealand tech story that can help accelerate that growth, creating a more prosperous future for all Kiwis.”

It is estimated that by 2030 more than 100,000 New Zealanders will work in digital industries. Analysis from NZ Tech says this could result in as many as 151k additional jobs for women, 93k for Māori and 48k for Pacific people, as well as earning billions of additional dollars in new exports.     

The new initiative launches today at a “Go Live” event hosted by NZ Tech online, including speakers Julie Gill from NZ Tech, David Downs, CEO, NZ Story and Minister Clark.